Seven Colors of Anemones
by crispyapple
Summary: series of oneshots; harutaka; konoha, ene; —you, me, and seven colors of us— ‹2/7› there's no reason to lie; he meant every words he said.
1. Pink

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_**Seven Colors of Anemones**_

_you, me, and seven colors of us_

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* * *

_._

_first_

_[pink]_

_.harutaka, haruka-centric._

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'_Love is a curious thing.'_

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Haruka noticed that Takane had been acting quite strange around him for these past few days.

For one, her face sometimes looked so red that he almost thought she actually had a fever.

He found Takane staring at him once when they were having a self-study session. Their teacher had gone somewhere —in which Takane was sure he was just too lazy to teach them—, only giving them an assignment to work on and telling them to collect it by the end of the day.

Haruka inclined his neck, before deciding to ask, "Takane? Is something wrong?"

She blinked. And then, she realized that she had just been caught staring at him.

"H-huh!? Nothing!"

Her face reddened, before turning her face away and busying herself with her own assignment.

From the corner of his eyes, he could see her ears were also red.

'_Is she getting a fever?'_ he mused.

With a frown marring his usual bright expression, he asked again, "Are you sick? You face is red, Takane."

Her only response was an inaudible grunt.

.

.

And then, somehow, she started to avoid his gaze whenever their eyes met.

They were talking inside their classroom like usual, yes, with Haruka mostly talking about foods and drawings and such, and Takane would drop comments like she usually did. But, this time, when their eyes met —and he unconsciously gave her a bright smile for this— she quickly turned her gaze away, her cheeks slightly flushed.

"Takane~?"

"What?"

"As I thought." With a determined expression, Haruka moved so that he was now in front of the blushing girl's desk. "You really got a fever! Let's go to the infirmary!"

Takane scrunched her face as she looked at his expression. She then ruffled her hair in exasperation and stood up from her desk, stomping on her feet.

"It's the heat!" came her reply, "I'm going to cool off my head!"

"Ah~ wait for me."

Before he even properly stood up, Takane's sharp voice rang out again. "Don't you _dare_ follow me!"

.

.

Haruka thought Takane would eventually be like her usual self, but nearly a week later, there's no slightest sign of that happening.

Sure, she still talked with him daily, but with her deliberate avoidance from looking at him, he started to feel worried. He then went on to ask Kenjirou-_sensei_.

"Y'know, Haruka," the teacher patted his student's shoulder, a supposedly all-knowing-smile bloomed on his face. "It's all part of youth! You'll understand sooner or later!"

'_Just what part of 'youth' does he mean?'_ he bemused, before shrugging it off, deciding that for once, Takane was right about their teacher being rather delusional.

.

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A month later, Haruka wondered if Takane's strangeness had rubbed on him.

He was grateful that Takane no longer purposefully avoided looking at him like she did some times ago. She still, however, blushed every once in a while.

The thing was, he also found his own cheeks warming up every time she blushed. Moreover, he could also feel his heart beating a little bit faster than usual.

Was it a sign of his illness getting worse? he had asked himself once, but quickly dismissed it. It's strange, he admitted later on, yet in a way, it's not unpleasant at all.

It was a very warm feeling.

.

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"I kinda don't like seeing Takane interacting with Shintaro-_kun_," Haruka muttered aloud, earning a curious glance from the girl beside him.

She stopped doing her assignment; some complicated mathematical equations she didn't even understand. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"Hmm," he tapped his pencil on his sketchbook thoughtfully. He had finished his assignment a little earlier and decided that he'd just draw something to spend his time. "I just don't like it."

"You make no sense."

"Right~? I think so, too. It's weird."

Haruka didn't really have anything against the younger boy. He found his junior was rather level-headed, despite being a little bit self-centered at times. But whenever Takane started bickering with Shintaro, an unpleasant, rumbling feeling bubbled in his chest.

"Anyway," Takane started, thoroughly giving up on finishing the assignment. "Ayano_-chan_ invites us to have lunch together in the rooftop. Let's go."

"Eeh, no," he answered curtly. Closing his sketchbook, he continued, "Rather, why don't we just eat here? I missed having lunch with only the two of us. Okay?"

For the first time, he came to realize that her reddening cheeks were quite cute.

.

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When all the thinking about the strange feelings he recently felt began to hurt his head, he concluded that asking for advice from his two juniors was the best course of action.

On a fine day in the middle of spring, Haruka told them exactly what was bugging his mind.

Ayano's face brightened with joy as she clasped her hands excitedly while Shintaro —Haruka still didn't like seeing Takane interacting with Shintaro, by the way— was heaving a big sigh with an expression that clearly said 'why do I get dragged into this?'.

Takane was obviously not there; she was currently being called by Kenjirou-_sensei_, which meant that she wouldn't be there on the rooftop for another 10 minutes.

"Say, Haruka-_san_," Ayano said, her red scarf swaying to the spring breeze. "What do you think of Takane-_san_?"

"She's cool," he remembered the time at the school festival when Takane had single-handedly defeated many players on their booth before she was defeated by Shintaro. "And she's a little bit stubborn, but she's really nice."

Shintaro snorted at the last statement. But after realizing that Ayano had given him a disapproving look, he ducked his head while murmuring an inaudible 'sorry'.

The younger girl then gave her attention back to Haruka, excitement returning to her expression. "And, do you like her?"

"Of course I like her," he answered, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"What she meant to say is," Shintaro interrupted rather irritatingly. "Do you like Enomoto— ugh, I mean Enomoto-_senpai_ more than what you like the most? Like eating or drawing for example?"

Haruka put his hand under his chin. "I like eating... but... I like Takane a bit more than eating, or drawing... I think."

"It's settled then, Haruka-_senpai._ You're obviously ofgh—"

Ayano silenced Shintaro before he could say anything.

"I assure you it's a normal thing to feel that way, Haruka-_san. _You see, most people also feel that kind of thing. Unfortunately, I can't really tell you what it is. You have to figure it out by yourself," but rather than sorry, Ayano said that in a quite cheerful tone. "If you've figure it out one day, please tell Takane-_san_ properly. I'm really sure she'll be happy!"

"Who will be happy?"

Three pairs of eyes looked at the rooftop door. There, Takane stood while holding her lunchbox, most probably the one her grandmother had made for her.

Ayano was the one who answered her question. "Ehehe, it's nothing, Takane-_san_~ Now that you're here, let's eat then. I'm sorry that my father is holding you up."

"Ah, no, you don't need to apologize really," Takane walked up to them, giving a slight glare at Shintaro who only scowled at her.

_'Will it really?_' Haruka thought to himself. A slight tap on the shoulder successfully broke his train of thought.

"Why are you spacing out?"

"Oh, Takane! No, I'm not spacing out."

"Really? You've been spacing out a lot recently, like; you're really deep in thought."

When a frown made its way to Takane's face, Haruka quickly reassured her with a smile and a pat on her head. Ayano quietly giggled at this.

"It's fine, Takane~ I won't space out anymore, see?"

He decided then; he really looked forward to the time when he figured out this strange, warm feeling.

.

Because after that, he would make her happy, _definitely_.

.

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_[look forward to; eagerly await]_

_._

_._

* * *

_1,292 (bdg, 21/05/2014)_

Hello~ I'm new here~~ ah, well not really. I'm not planning on leaving my 4-years hiatus actually, but since all anemone flower's hanakotoba just literally screamed 'HARUTAKA! KONOENE!' I can't help but write this. My writing skill sure is getting dull... /scratches the wall on the corner

anyway, harutaka-konoene are the cutest.

Long story short, thank you so _so_ much for all who are willing to read this piece of work. Until next time. ;)


	2. White

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_**Seven Colors of Anemones**_

_you, me, and seven colors of us_

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* * *

.

_second_

_[white]_

_harutaka; haruka-centric._

_._

_there's no reason to lie; he meant every words he said_

_._

_._

He wasn't really sure how he ended up in walking toward Takane's house right now, with a small bag on his shoulder and the sky already getting darker.

Maybe it started yesterday, when the four of them —Takane, Ayano, Shintaro, and him, of course— were having a nice lunch on the rooftop and Ayano began talking to Takane about how bad her grade was with a nervous smile.

And maybe because Shintaro, who sat not very far from Ayano, started scolding her to take her studies more seriously, Ayano then proposed the idea of the four of them having a study session in her house the next day, the weekend.

While Takane and he had no problem on that idea, Shintaro directly opposed to that.

"Why should I come too?" he asked rudely. "I'm busy!"

Of course, they all knew very well when Shintaro said he's 'busy', it meant that he's busy locking himself in his room and surfing the internet.

In the end, with a slight persuasion from Ayano —"Then, who will teach me? Since you're really smart, teach me okay? Okay, Shintaro?"— Shintaro, albeit looking rather sulky, agreed to that.

"But since I have something to do in the afternoon, you guys can come to my house after dinner!" And as if she just remembered something, she added. "Takane-san, do you know where my house is?"

When Takane shook her head, Ayano smiled, rather mischievously. "Then, Haruka-san, since you had come to my house once when working on the school festival's program, I think it's great if you can pick Takane-san up tomorrow!"

Before Takane could protest and Haruka could digest what Ayano had just said, the bell signaling the end of lunch rang. With a swift movement, Ayano was already walking toward the door with Shintaro tailing behind her.

"Well then, see you tomorrow!"

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Despite Takane telling him that he shouldn't bother picking her up, his feet still brought him to the front of her house. He had messaged Takane a couple of minutes ago, informing her that he'd pick her up anyway.

Arriving in front of Takane's house, he quickly rang the doorbell and waited for a couple of second before hearing someone opening the door.

"Oh, it's Haruka-kun, isn't it?" On the other side of the door was an elderly woman he guessed as Takane's grandmother. He hadn't met her in person, though. "Sorry for making you come all the way here to pick Takane."

"It's nothing," he offered a modest smile. "It's not that far and it's actually me who offered to pick her, umm... Enomoto-san?"

Takane's grandmother replied with a laugh, the wrinkles on her face becoming visible. "Don't be so formal, 'Grandma' is fine. Come on in. It's cold waiting outside, right?"

Excusing himself for intruding, he neatly put on his shoes on the doorway and followed Takane's grandmother to their living room.

"Takane is still preparing some things upstairs, so please wait a little while, okay?" she motioned Haruka to take a seat before leaving. A moment later, she went back, not without bringing a cup of tea.

"Please don't trouble yourself," he said, but she shushed him instead, telling him that no one was being troubled. After placing the cup on the table, she took a seat on the opposite side of him and gave him a smile.

"You're exactly like how I imagined you, Haruka-kun," she suddenly said. When he inclined his neck, not understanding what she meant, Takane's grandmother chuckled. "Takane told me many things about you."

"Takane did?"

The thought of Takane telling her grandmother about him actually made him rather embarrassed.

And while his mind wander on what kind of things did Takane had told her grandmother about, she answered, "Yes, though, most of it was about how annoying and insensitive you are and such."

So that's what she talked about, Haruka sighed dejectedly. Knowing Takane, he should've figured out that she would definitely say that.

'_I want her to praise me a little bit, though~_'

"But," At Takane's grandmother's voice, Haruka looked up. "If it's her we're talking about, I'm sure she didn't actually mean what she said. She just can't be honest at times, after all."

Haruka replied with a smile, before nodding, agreeing whole-heartedly at what the elderly woman had said.

They talked a little more until Takane's grandmother said, "Thank you, Haruka-kun, for befriending Takane up until now."

The way she said that was very gentle, lacing with gratitude toward him.

"I'm the one who should thank Takane for being friend with me," he interjected. Because, his mind reasoned, it's all thanks to her that he could meet new friends and had such a great high school days.

And, it's also thanks to her his chest always bursting with warmth.

"You're such a nice young man, Haruka-kun. Now I know why Takane likes you so much."

He stared unblinkingly at her. She didn't joke about what she just said, did she?

"Ah." He scratched his cheek while smiling bashfully in response. "I also like her, Grandma."

.

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It wasn't long after that when Takane finished and went downstairs to meet him. Her grandmother lightly scolded her for taking a long time and made Haruka wait, but Takane just grumbled, "It's Haruka's fault. Telling me that he's going to pick me up so sudden, I haven't even prepare anything yet!"

They excused themselves afterward, not before Takane's grandmother telling him he's welcomed to come anytime. Takane shot him a questionable glance but didn't ask anything. Well, not until they were walking quite far from her house.

"I've told you not bother yourself picking me up," Takane piped up, still looking ahead of the road.

"It's never a bother for me, Takane~" he replied with a small laugh. "And it's not really safe walking around alone at night, you know. What if something happen to you?"

She only crossed her arms while looking away.

"And your grandmother is very nice. I'd like to come to visit sometimes."

"Denied." Her reply was simple, and he couldn't help but pout at that. "In the first place, if you come, she'll probably talks about many embarrassing things about me."

"That's fine. I like hearing things I don't know about Takane; embarrassing or not."

He noted that her face reddened when he said that. She also started inaudibly babble about things that he couldn't help but think on how cute she looked.

Well, it's not that he didn't think that the everyday Takane wasn't cute.

"Wait! So that means she really did tell you things about me, right? Right!? I should've known it, since she seemed so eager meeting you. What did she tell you, Haruka!? What did you guys talk about!?"

When Takane pressed the matters on, Haruka put his hands up in defense and gave a very nervous laugh.

"That's a secret, Takane." Haruka took her hand in his, not planning to let go even if she protested later. "Let's go. Don't you think Ayano-chan and Shintaro-kun already waiting for us?"

Her flustered face was what becomes the center of his drawings for the next few days.

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[_sincerity; truth_]

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* * *

_1,190 (bdg, 08/07/14)_

headcanon: Takane's grandma is secretly shipping Takane with Haruka. idk, that just seems cute in my head /o/

Thank you for every feedbacks given to the last one, you're all soooo nice and great and I don't even know what to say ;;v;;

Until next time everyone /o/


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